₦airaland Forum

OAM4J:
I just have to wait for her response. It is very difficult for me to believe she actually lied.

I heard she is also a lecturer with University of Lagos and Lagos Business School.

hmm, Maybe she actually has a Masters degree, but lied about the Ph.d

As per the LSE and Unilag teaching, Experience does count too. Maybe her various duties at the NSE over the years has given her the opportunity to acquire enough industry terminologies to bamboozle clueless Students.

A smart and attentive quack should be able to successfully perform some delicate surgeries if he hung around the operating room long enough observing good doctors do their work.

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=679739.msg8442803#msg8442803 date=1307038103]Arson will soon be on the rise then if that is the case.[/quote]LOL



Well, maybe Section 11 can help, if we implement and enforce it effectively

11. It shall be a criminal offence punishable on conviction by a competent Court with a minimum of 1 year imprisonment for any officer or the head of any government or public institution to which this Bill applies to willfully destroy any records kept in his/her custody or attempts to doctor or otherwise alter same before they are released to any person, entity orcommunity applying for it.

step1:
How can they prove themselves when they have not been given the chance to do so.

What do you mean?

I thought Akala, OGD, Oyinlola, Fayose were PDP Governors for terms ranging from 4 to 8 years, what other chance are they looking for?

And PDP has been in control of the Federal Government with overwhelming majority in the House Of Assembly since 1999

What chance are you talking about?

^^ 

If the story is true, That Madam na Jagua Nana of Yahoo-Yahooland

This is from a NewsWatch article:

NDI OKEREKE-ONYIUKE:  Amazon in the saddle

When the young and ebullient Dr. (Mrs.) Ndi Okereke Onyiuke assumed duty as the Manager and Head of Research and Information Services Department (now Research and Infotech Department) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in January 1983, little did she realise that come January 2000 (seven years after), she would be at the apex of the Corporate Ladder as the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer.

Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke’s journey in the corporate world began at the New York Stock Exchange where she rose to managerial cadre before she answered the clarion call to come and develop her fatherland ( Nigeria ).

She is a study in all round development.  Top on her sterling qualities is the divine gift of intellectual prowess. Her fertile imagination became noticeable right from her early education when she emerged as the best among her equals. The records are quite revealing:  At Queen’s School, Enugu , Nigeria , She passed out with Grade 1 in her West African School Certificate Examination in 1965.

This was capped with a distinguished performance at Higher School Certificate Examination in same school in 1967.  

The intellectual strength manifested in her graduation with First Class Honours (Magna cumlaude) in Business Administration, Computer Sciences and Economics at the prestigious Baruch College of the City University of New York in 1975.

Still in search of the proverbial Golden Fleece, she obtained her Master of Business Administration, (MBA) specialising in Finance and Computer Science at City University of New York, Graduate School in 1977.  By 1980, Dr. Okereke-Onyiuke had comfortably completed her Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Administration in Finance and Securities Market at City University Post Graduate centre, New York .


Her exceptional brilliance earned her chains of awards off-shore:  She has won the following awards:-

    The Foreign Student Academic Excellence Tuition Waiver, 1972 - 1976.

    CUNY award for summer Study at Universite Parix-ix , France , 1980

    Beta Gamma Sigma Award for Summer Study at Cambridge University , 1977.

    The Goldman Sacks(sic) Awards for Best Thesis; Academic Dean’s List, 1972 - 1976.

     Nominated and listed in “Who is Who in America ” 1981.

http://www.newswatchngr.com/editorial/Notable%20Leaders/leaders11115164230.htm

You mean she lied about all these

I don't believe it. Maybe there's a mistake somewhere, I will wait for her to speak.

I'm not worried about NYSE, they probably didn't bother since she wasn't on their radar.

I'm shocked at the audacity of the Madam's many claims, If she was indeed lying

Damn!

step1:
PDP is not an evil party as you imagined it to be.

Let them prove it. That is the issue.

A lot of Nigerians are tired of mere talk, unfulfilled promises and visionless uninspiring leadership.

EX:If you have a partner that constantly cheats on you and physically abuses you, It will not be shocking if you decide to kick His/Her backside to the curbside. Most sensible people will do the same, except they are suffering from a massive case of Stockholm Syndrome and inferiority complex.

PDP should walk their talk, they had the power and time to make many fundamental changes since 1999, The people cannot continue to wait for them forever. We have places to go.

Oduduwa ti gbe wa na, o ku ki  a gbe ara wa.

We have Swept Away the Prodigal Sons!

With our bionic brooms,

We’ve swept away our tormentors.

We’ve gelded the hedonistic power mongers

Bound to graft ‘n violence.

We’ve cut the rope

With which the gladiators pinioned our hope,

And  bound the extremities of our progress.

They appeased us with a pittance from their plunder,

But their schemes of succession we put asunder.

We’ve conked out the clanging chains


They strung to tether our brains

To the poles of forgiveness ‘n forgetfulness.

We’ve busted their bludgeons,

And broken loose from their dungeons.

Our will and votes have trumped the antics of cavalier curmudgeons,

Who, like locusts, ravaged the land at will,

And garlanded us with penury, privation, ‘n frustration.

We’ve shocked ‘n awed the witty Wizard of Owu,

Till he laughs no more.

We’ve jiggled the initials of the tin GOD,

The villain is now a fugitive DOG.

Yes, on the wings of the Queen’s eagle

In the darkness of the night,

The unclothed emperor fled,

Sans his famous struts, swagger, ‘n gaudy cane,

To meet his massive loot

On the other side of the Atlantic?

As we turn a new page,

Their insults ‘n assaults let’s assuage.

Roll out the dundun drum,

Batter the bata drum,

Drench the land with rum,

Propitiate the patient and resilient ile ogere afokoyeri.

Sound the kakaki,

Shake the sekere ‘n agogo,

Set the land agog,

Lift your toes ‘n feet high in a victory dance.

Let the obayeje ‘n ojelu remain in perpetual trance.

For their evil machinations were thrown askance.

Lamurudu says let the new leaders lead with conscience, intelligence, munificence, ‘n diligence.

Oduduwa says let the followers follow with vigilance.

As Obaluwaye says, "as you follow, like eagles, you must stay awake."

To watch over the national, state, ‘n local cake.

Orunmila says followers must burden their brains, brawn ‘n broom,

To clean off the dung of gloom ‘n doom

The loopy locusts have left in their wake.

And if the new behave like the old,

Olodumare says sweep them away

Into the depths of Ogun, Osun, Ogunpa, oyan, Osa, ‘n Okun,

And all the cavernous rivers in between.

Never again in our beleaguered land

Must we the people brook

The excesses of clownish crooks

Whether they laugh, grin, growl, or bark.

Olatunde Olusesi, New York,

May 29, 2011

Nice poetry, good rhymes,  very well done.

^Dem don burn the record

Won ti jo evidence yen

@DK I saw you already made most of my point after I clicked post.

Good point about taxes.

step1:
Gbawe, this is an interesting write up but there are many faults in his reasoning.

1 The writer was saying "We must not accept anything less than what Governor Fashola did in his first term in office, from any of the other governors in the Southwest, relative to their available resources. In his second term, Governor Fashola must show further stellar achievements that will be worthy of emulation by the other governors." . Now the writer should tell us what other ACN governors have done in the SW apart from Fashola in Lagos.

Most ACN Governors just got the fraudulent PDP governors removed late last year, we are still watching them.

2 The writer was also talking about free education, free this free that. How would ACN achieve this when everyone from all part of the country are flooding into Lagos and other SW states. Would ACN also care for non-Southwesterners by given then free education etc.

Very good point.

I'm not a fan of free Education beyond Junior high myself, but I don't mind if we subsidize Trade and technical education for those who can't afford to go beyond Junior Secondary school. Especially if we want to attract semi-skilled manufacturing jobs, everybody can't be a scholar.

We need to find a way to leverage our population and compete for a lot of those manufacturing business like they do in China

Free Education should be contingent on the availability of funds, we need to get businesses moving in the SW region for us to afford that kind of policy.

3 The writer is biased by insulting Alao-Akala and OGD. This were governors that performed way better than Tinubu in Lagos .

I'm sorry, this is not correct, Fashola is doing well but Tinubu was responsible for laying the foundation. Even the BRT people praise Fashola for today was started by Bola Tinubu.

The Lagos Central Business District rejuvenation idea was a Tinubu Project. Tinubu is not a very likeable politician on the internet, But his stewardship and vision trumps that of OGD, Fayose, Akala and Oyinlola combined

When Tinubu presented an unknown Fashola to the people of Lagos, many people including myself thought he was crazy. Today, he's been vindicated.

Did the Writer take into account the embezzled money Tinubu stole to build his hotel estate etc

If he did, he should be investigated and jailed like Bode George.




Edit: Typos

If this is true, then she is a shameless fraud. A Yahoo Yahoo Madam 

On January 18, 2011, I caused a search to be conducted of our student records (including graduation records) at The Graduate Center, at the request of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, to determine if Ms. Ndi Okereke–Onyiuke was ever enrolled in the Ph.D Program in Business and if she received a Ph.D in Business at The Graduate Center.
A thorough search of our electronic and paper files for the names, Ndi Leche Okereke, Ndi Okereke, Ndi Okereke – Onyiuke and Ndi Lechi Okereke – Onyiuke was conducted. No record was found that Ms. Ndi Okereke – Onyiuke ever enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Business or received a Ph.D. in Business at The Graduate Center.”

Mr. Richman further affirmed that: “On Oct. 7 2010, I caused a supplemental search to be conducted of Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC), at major times a majority – owned and later wholly – owned NYSE subsidiary…After a diligent search of both electronic and paper files including files relating to former employees, NYSE staff found no record that Ms. Okereke – Onyiuke ever worked at SIAC of NYSE”.  Richman also concluded his report of findings with a declaration that, “I certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing statements made by me are true and correct”.

Damn!

queensmith:
Do these people get paid for this or are they volunteers? the former adds my vote to scrap it!!! the latter. . . . not soo much. Lets keep them all in one place and hope they get taken out together

I'm sure they get paid for attending those meetings, not sure how much though, maybe the FOI bill will help with that.

I'm less concerned about the money, although it is important too. IMO, Their power to approve or dis-approve has negative implications for a democratic system where people should be able to elect their political decision makers and make them accountable for those decisions.

I mean they are approving minimum wage and Authorizing the Military for specific duties
http://thewillnigeria.com/politics/8016-Council-State-Approves-Military-For-April-Election.html

That is too much power for some unelected leaders who are not even part if the executive, they already served their term.

There is no need to keep the same crop of leaders in place to make decisions for Nigerians when we already voted them out, that is not Fresh Air!

Nigeria is not a Village and we are not practising Gerontocracy.

[img]http://thewillnigeria.com/thumbnail.php?file=cover_COUNCIL_OF_STATE_MEETING__313201428.jpg&size=article_medium[/img]

This is another good reason why Buhari should have won that election.

All these Pro-status quo, oppressive Northern Politicans, just like their ilk in other parts of the country are afraid of Buhari's radical stance, they don't trust the man because they are looters, oppressors and deceivers.

A country in a radical situation needs a focused radical leader with the will to lead and inspire fundamental changes.

Babangida Aliyu and his goons will remain bad news for Nigeria.

One day, one day, Monkey go collect hin banana.

^^
I Support these noble efforts to Draft Jagunlabi Fstranger as Supermod

NL needs a steady, capable, no-nonsense hand, and only the Akinrogun can deliver it. 

OAMJ4 can stay as Politics Mod.

^I remember her, very sweet and effective presenter, unlike all those other mumus who joined politics from obscurity with no achievements to speak of.

Do you know her? Hook me up

[quote author=ndu_chucks link=topic=680419.msg8437993#msg8437993 date=1306976606]NASS needs to appropriate adequate funding for Information Systems, including computer IS, microfiche technology,  libraries, e.t.c. to make this thing work.[/quote]Very important point.

lacidi:
@ Kilode. Please read to entire bill. Section 26.1(iii) states that the Court can order disclosure if it finds that the disclosure will serve the public interest more.

Section 22 also provides that proceedings in court for any application brought under the Act shall be heard summarily.

As for those who are only interested in finding negatives in the bill because they are disappointed that a PDP government actually passed such a wonderful bill, well, you will remain in the minority.

Yes, I saw that part, but we are not sure how The Court will define or determine "Public interest" I'm not sure what the test will be. I guess we will have to test the law to get more clarity.

I'm not sure what you mean by "finding negatives in the law" Our laws and systems can only become stronger if people scrutinize them for loopholes or challenge them to become better. This is a democracy right? And these laws are made for people.

Also the credit for this bill should go to civil society groups who fought without wavering for close to 12 years to get this bill passed. They wrote the law, campaigned and endured several attempts to throw it in the dustbin or water it down completely.

You should also thank progressive ACN representatives like Abike Dabiri, now a Senator, who relentlessly pushed and presented this bill for years while OBJ and his PDP were blocking it. I'm sure you remember the foul mouthed Abba Aji and his comments about the bill.

GEJ gets credit for signing it, but the greater credit should go to those folks.

8. (1) Where the government or public institution refuses to give access to a record or
information applied for under this Bill, or a part thereof, the institution shall state in the notice
given to the applicant the grounds for the refusal, the specific provision of this Bill that it relates
to and that the applicant has a right to challenge the decision refusing access and have it
reviewed by a Court.
(2) Any notification of denial of any application for information or records shall set forth the
names, designation and signature, of each person responsible for the denial of such application.

(3) The government or public institution shall be required to indicate under subsection (1)
whether the information or record exists.

(4) Where the government or public institution fails to give access to information or record
applied for under this Bill or part thereof within the time limit set out in this Bill, the institution
shall, for the purposes of this Bill, be deemed to have refused to give access.

(5) Where a case of wrongful denial of access is established, the defaulting officer or institution
shall on conviction be liable to a fine of N500,000.00 (Five hundred thousand naira)
Where access is
refused.

This FOI bill is a pretty good bill really.

But why not just fire the Person?


Section 9

9. Fees shall be limited to standard charges for document duplication and transcription where
necessary

.

What is the point in asking for duplication and transcription fees, It is an unnecessary burden IMO

I like the bill so far though.

Our Journalists will need to step up their game and act to rise up to the occasion.

Seun:
Excellent. Can someone please read this on our behalf, pretty please?

Let's take a look at Sections 12 and 13;

12. (1) A public institution may deny an application for any information the disclosure of which
may be injurious to the conduct of international affairs and the defence of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an application for information shall not be denied where the
public interest in disclosing the information outweighs whatever injury disclosure would cause.
Exemption of international affairs and defence.

Section 12. (1) reads like an egg-shell we have to walk carefully around, I already forsee corrupt military contractors and unpatriotic military or civilian public officials using this section as shield to block investigation and prevent public media access to information that might lead to their conviction and prosecution. We need to be careful with that, but it is better than nothing.

12. (2) despite the good wording and intention here, I'm wondering who will determine what a viable "public interest" is. The custodian of such information? The Court? the president? and how will they determine "public interest" that "outweighs international affairs or defence" ?

13. (1) A public institution may deny an application for any information which contains—

(a) records complied(sic) by any public institution for administrative enforcement
proceedings and by any law enforcement or correctional agency for law enforcement
purposes or for internal matters of a public institution, but only to the extent that
disclosure would—

(i) interfere with pending or actual and reasonably contemplated law enforcement
proceedings conducted by any law enforcement or correctional agency;

(ii) interfere with pending administrative enforcement proceedings conducted by
any public institution;

(iii) deprive a person of a fair trial or an impartial hearing;

(iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a confidential source;

(v) constitute an invasion of personal privacy under section 15 of this Bill,
however, where the interest of the public would be better served by having such
record being made available, this exemption to disclosure shall not apply;
Exemption of law enforcement and investigation

In 13 (i), what is "reasonably contemplated" ?

let's say I want to access the details of a case and look into the names and leads for an investigative story on a powerful politician who was earlier investigated for graft, will I be able to get police records without his friends in the Police preventing access by saying they are  in the process of "conducting a reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings"  on his case?

in 13(ii) Same with "administrative enforcement", does that mean i.e: Ministry of works can deny access to information because it is conducting "administrative enforcement proceeedings" into the case.

in 13 (iii) Will my demand for access to the records of say Ogun State Contract awards deny Gbenga Daniels "Fair trial or hearing" in his embezzlement court case? especially if I clearly intend to publish the contract award records in my Newspaper?

in 13 (iv) who is a confidential source? how did they define that?

in 13(v) I have the same concern as I have with 13 (i) plus what kind of private matters can be contained in a public service document? Phone logs? Illegally acquired property Address? Details of past crimes? video evicence of corrupt acts?

Make NL Lawyers help us out.

DaLover:
I am in total agreement with this sweet post, except for some fine details like FG collecting individual taxes,

I think FG will need to take some individual taxes, it could be a much lesser %. Unless we want to Practice a very loose Confederacy where Your only connection to the Central Government is through your Regional Government.

and police, I believe community policing should be encouraged as it happens in the US, community police, state police and FG police, each with their jurisdictions,

I totally agree. As long as we clearly define the differences between State, Community (city) and Federal laws.

This is basically the type of federalism we crave for, The structural changes the ACN leadership is asking for is definately not possible without true fiscal federalism, All@of a sudden what was good for the geese is no longer good for the gander,

At least ACN is talking and pushing the Conversation, that is what "fresh Air" PDP should be pushing for, they have the power to do these things and the numbers in collaboration with progressive opposition elements.

It will be sad if come 2015 we wake up to see that we wasted another 4 years protecting the interests of the Center-Must-Stay-Strong, Pro-Establishment Military-Politician hawks holding us back since 1966.

[quote author=isale_gan2 link=topic=590933.msg8437416#msg8437416 date=1306967772]  Anyway, Kilode, you've gone bad.  I'm just saying.[/quote]The calm guy will soon be back, he's been on a well deserved vacation. 

Hey, what's my title?  I forgot.  Can I have Erelu?  Or Moremi.  Any of the cool ones sha.


P.S. Why am I even asking you?  I can confer titles on myself.  Gimme a minute to do my own research. 

You are Iyalode Iwapele, no one can take it away and You can't give it back. Aro ti ro mo.

Awon Irunmole ti ki oje bo oloosa e lowo, o ku baba eni ti yoo bo

Sagamite:
Kilode, you don't need exact data. If he wants indicators, he should take a look at leading Nigerians in international organisations and leading Nigerian Professors abroad and take a look at their profiles.

They all studied abroad, came back home in the 60s and 70s, and then left for work abroad in 80s and 90s.

Good point.

The intellectuals tend to lead a brain drain which normally depress the economy further and lead to more migration by the suffering laymen.

And that has been the lot of Nigeria in the past few decades. The loss of such vital human resources is everyone's loss really. .

Poorer teaching Faculties at our Universities, Weak and poorly trained Private and Civil Service. We lost big time.

It's great to see things picking up a bit in the private sector though. It's still very modest, but it's a good start.

Katsumoto:
To support your argument; most Nigerians who studied abroad returned to Nigeria in the 70s before the mass exodus started in the 80s. The biggest brain drain occured during International Batty Boy's 8 year reign of tenure.

Exactly.

A lot of them came back to join the Federal and state civil service and the small but growing private sector then, unfortunately, many were forced to move back later in the late 70's to early 80's when the Naira crashed and corruption went to the high heavens, till today, they are yet to return massively like the earlier generations did after studying in the 60's to early 70's. I guess they don't want to repeat their Parent's or Grandparent's mistakes.

We essentially lost a whole generation of educated vibrant Nigerians and their offsprings to foreign lands. very sad really.

And mostly because some idi/ots were more concerned about looting oil money than governing well.

I feel sorry for the kids, They are now grown anyway.

Shey divorce no dey dia dictionary ni? is it by force?

OAM4J:
hehehehehe take am easy o, Akinrogun of NL. I no wan test my powers on my friends yet o

BTW, she is Salone lady not Saro

OK. Salone Lady and the Geek then

BTW, Fstranger na Akinrogun, I never start to dey fight wars, but with you as MOD, I think this is a very good time to start.

namfav:
you haven't answered the point about nigerians in the west and the civil war, how many left with the civil war, do you even have a idea of that since you spoke about migration?

I don't have an exact data, but I can infer from experience and observation;

I think more people migrated out of Nigeria during the Economic collapse of the Military era -late 1970's to late 1990's- than at any other time since the "forced migration" of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade era.

People definitely left Nigeria as refugees during the Civil War era, especially South East folks, but by my guesstimation, (since I don't have data here) I believe more people left during the era of military misrule. Specifically from the late 70's.

I'm speaking chiefly about economic and permanent migration not just mere travelling.

The collapse of the Nigerian Agricultural sector (specifically non-oil exports) the reversal of whatever small industrial gains we made in the 70's, The SAP program, the Austerity measure, the collapse of the Naira, coupled with massive increase in social and public corruption presided over by the military and the bastardization of the professional Civil Service forced many Nigerians, especially middle class Nigerians out of the Country.

Most of those folks are still out of Nigeria. I bet their kids are the majority on Nairaland today.

namfav:
let me know why, there are many perceptions that i have can you clear that up?

do you think it is easy to be a business person, do you think to make money in todays nigeria you have to have "connections"? how many successful business people started out after gaining a degree?, for example even when you are a politician you don't strike a ticket, somehow you need qualities to get noticed, there are many people who have those degrees that you think will take you nowhere who have done well for themselves, hahaha university does not drill common sense in you, it's only the big corporations like in the oil business, glo etc. who have i see a love for people with western degrees, but nothing stops anyone from being successful with a degree from khartoum or unilag as long as you have qualities of course

You are not wrong, neither are you right.

My bro, If you've ever lived in Nigeria, attended school in Nigeria or struggled on the streets of Lagos or Kano with no access to Political or Government corruption Money or Influence, you will understand every word I typed up there.

If you have specific questions to help you out, ask and I will answer if I can.

9ja4eva:
LOL,

Who be Number 7 abeg?

I just start to dey watch am, not sure who is playing 7 yet.

BTW, that link by Muskeeto is a great link, thanks.

4 - ZERO??  Na wa o

Abeg, make una pardon Argentina oo

I think the fact that they are publicly calling for restructuring and total reform of the federation is a good first step. We should encourage that.

I agree that giving the FG a pre-determined 35% is not good enough, but that is about the same thing as States paying 35% tax on their collected revenue. The amount may be too high, but the real issue is to determine who has the right to collect these taxes from revenue within each state in the first instance.

Income and revenue currently goes to the FG directly, then shared down to the states monthly. I think that encourages federal corruption, gives us a central government with too much power, essentially rubbishing our federalism claims.

To make our "True Federalism" work, We need to go the VAT way with ALL INCOMES. We currently have the FG with too much control over finances and National revenue. That is the issue.

EX: Shell Oil company should be paying State taxes in it's state of domicile e.g Lagos or Delta. Same should apply to ALL INCOMES generated within a State, including Personal income.

There is no need for the FG to control Oil revenue or any revenue accruing from companies operating in individual Oil states or ANY state at all, rather, they should tax the income of those companies federally based on pre-determined percentages, while the State does the same by taxing their profits/revenue and the LG can access fees and property taxes.

The same system should apply to individual income, Property/Real Estate, Capital gains e.t.c  Also Excise duties and fees should be accessed this way. I see no reason why the FG should collect duties at a port owned by Lagos or Rivers state, or say the city of ONNE( if we adopt vibrant independent City Governments )

The FG shouldn't also lay claim to the income of the Kano Water Corporation or Adamawa Tourism revenue. All FG owned companies should be transferred to the State for Privatisation. Let private companies run Industry then pay taxes to government. EX: The NNPC issue should be resolved in that manner.

Now, Nigeria can have an agreement among its constituent units on what percentage of their State income should be contributed to the Federal Account. It should be based on pre-determined percentages, So a richer state will definitely contribute more Naira than a poorer one. But the contribution must go from state to FG and not FG to state.

Also, Federal Civil service expenditure and Grant to poorer States or for National services like Parks, Primary education funding and grants, Federal Emergency Management Large Federal infrastructual Projects and the Military should come from the account administered by the FG through Legislative oversight based on receipts from federal taxes and state contributions to the FG account.

Individual citizens and companies should be taxed by both Federal and State Governments where applicable(some States may decide not to collect state individual taxes) while LGs can rely on sale taxes, property taxes and local fees to run their government.

Governments need to focus on overseeing regulations and attracting businesses to their States, LG or Region -whichever one we adopt.

BTW, State Police is a no-brainer really, what we currently practice is a joke.